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A giant Megalodon shark during the Cenozoic Era of time. (Image: Getty Images/Stocktrek Images)
The giant megalodon shark, thought to dominate the oceans of the world millions of years ago, was much smaller than first thought.
New research has suggested the beast, which died off around 3.6 million years ago, is not as large as interpretations currently suggest.
Paleontologists had suggested the megalodon shark could be an intense 65ft long, but it seems the sharks were much “thinner”.
Marine experts now believe the ocean-going predator was not a bulky killer but a long and leaner animal more like a mako shark, and would fare worse than a great white shark.
Megalodon sharks were still a force to be reckoned with though, as Professor Kenshu Shimada outlined in a recent journal, saying the sharks were “hidden in plain sight”.
MAIN – Giant megalodon shark was not as mega as everyone thoughtCredit: Getty/SWNS (Image: Douglas Long / CAS / SWNS)
They wrote: “The remarkably simple evidence that [Otodus megalodon] had a more slender body than the great white shark was hidden in plain sight.”
It comes as fellow experts claim the great white shark was the stronger predator of the two.
Study author Phillip Sternes said: “It was still a giant, predatory shark.
“But the results strongly suggest that the megalodon was not merely a larger version of the modern great white shark.”
Crucially, the great white shark was deemed more “agile” than the elusive megalodon, which was said to need less food to survive, and therefore hunted much less than other animals in the deep, the New York Post reported.
Sternes added: “I believe there were a combination of factors that led to the extinction, but one of them may have been the emergence of the great white shark, which was possibly more agile, making it an even better predator than the megalodon.”
“That competition for food may have been a major factor in its demise.” The study also noted megalodon sharks could have “easily” reached lengths of 50 feet or even 66 feet.
“The reality is that we need the discovery of at least one complete Megalodon skeleton to be more confident about its true size as well as its body form.”
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